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How India tricked Pakistan into believing it shot down a Rafale during Operation Sindoor
India, during Operation Sindoor, reportedly tricked Pakistan into believing it shot down a Rafale aircraft. It did so by using Rafale Advanced Defense System's X-Guard – an AI-powered decoy system. But what do we know about the X-Guard? How does it work? How did India bamboozle Pakistan and rewrite the rules of electronic warfare? read more
During Operation Sindoor, India tricked Pakistan into believing it show down a Rafale aircraft.
India had launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 in response to the Pahalgam terror attack.
India did so by using the Rafale Advanced Defense System's X-Guard – an AI-powered decoy system.
The news comes on the same day that Dassault Aviation chairman and CEO Eric Trappier revealed that India lost one of its fighter jets due to a technical failure and not at the hands of the enemy.
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It also comes as Defence Secretary RK Singh in an interview said it is incorrect to claim that Pakistan shot down of India's Rafale fighter jets.
This also comes a day after a report quoted French military and intelligence officials as saying that China used its embassies to tarnish the performance of French-made Rafale fighter jets during Operation Sindoor.
But what is the Rafale's X-Guard? How did India trick Pakistan? What did Dassault and the defence secretary say?
Let's take a closer look:
Rafale's X-Guard
The Rafale's X-Guard is a fibre-optic towed decoy. It is part of the craft's electronic warfare (EW) suite. It guards the aircraft against radar-guided air-to-air and surface-to-air missiles.
It can also deceive the most sophisticated of radars including Monopulse and Lobe-On-Receive-Only (LORO) trackers. Rafale's website describes it as 'cutting-edge, lightweight and reusable'.
The X-Guard, which is kept inside a pod in the aircraft, is retractable.
It does so using an advanced reel-out/reel-in mechanism.
It is deployed when the aircraft comes into a danger area of if the pilot detects a threat.
The X-Guard weighs around 30 kilos. It is deployed using a 100-metre fibre optic capable. It uses AI to create a 500-watt, 360-degree jamming signal.
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The fibre-optics capable gives the pilot allows real-time updates on missile activity and system status, without being affected by jamming efforts.
It mimics radar signals and Doppler effect of an actual Rafale jet. This makes it harder for the enemy to find the real craft. It also gives any incoming missile an inaccurate location for the craft.
Rafale's website describes it the X-Guard as 'cutting-edge, lightweight and reusable'. Image courtesy: Rafale Advanced Defense Syste
It can deploy in less than two seconds and is used as a 'decoy wingman' to fool the enemy.
It was designed mainly to be carried by fighters. After the mission is finished, it retracts into the aircraft pod.
Rafale Advanced Defense Systems in May announced a new version of the X-Guard – the X-Guard RT.
A Rafale executive told Jane's Defence Weekly this is a standalone system.
'The independence of the system is certainly an outstanding quality,' the source said. 'This opens up the ability to integrate it with new aircraft, such as cargo, which usually are not equipped with active advanced EW systems.'
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How India tricked Pakistan
Ryan Bodenheimer, an US Air Force pilot, in an interview wit_h explained how India bamboozled Pakistan using the Rafale X-Guard.
Bodenheimer hailed the Indian Air Force's mission as 'the best spoofing and deception we've ever seen.'
He said India's tactics completely fooled Pakistan's Chinese-made PL-15E air-to-air missiles and J-10C fighters.
The PL-15E missile, which is a version of China's PL-15, could not resist the spoofing.
The X-Guard also misled the KLJ-7A AESA radar on Pakistan's J-10C fighters into thinking they had hit the Rafale jets.
Bodenheimer said the mission may have 'redefined the rules of electronic warfare'.
Jane's Defence Weekly said some Pakistani claims of shooting down Rafale jets may actually have been hits on these X-Guard decoys.
What Dassault and defence secretary said
Trappier, the Dassault CEO, in an interview with a defence website said India had lost one of their Rafale jets.
However, he added that this was due to a technical glitch at a high altitude and not as a result of any enemy operation.
The French defence website Avion De Chasse quoted Trapper as saying that the incident occurred 'at an altitude of over 12,000 metres during an extended training mission'.
Singh, the defence secretary, denied any claims that Pakistan had shot down India's Rafale jets during Operation Sindoor.
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(File) Operation Sindoor displayed on the screen during a press briefing by the Indian armed forces, in New Delhi on May 11, 2025. PTI
'You have used the term Rafales in the plural, I can assure you that is absolutely not correct. Pakistan suffered losses many times over India in both human and material terms and more than 100 terrorists,' Singh told CNBC-TV18.
'No political constraints on our armed forces and they have full operational freedom in conflict', Singh added.
Neither the Indian government nor the Indian Air Force (IAF) have confirmed the loss of a Rafale aircraft during Operation Sindoor.
Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan last month called Pakistan's claims of downing six Indian aircraft 'absolutely incorrect'.
General Chauhan in an interview said Indian forces re-entered Pakistani airspace on multiple occasions and 'penetrated all their air defences with impunity,' executing precision strikes deep within enemy territory.
With inputs from agencies
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